State education board to look at crisis management policies

The Kansas State Board of Education will get an update on crisis management policies and procedures this week.

The board will meet Tuesday and Wednesday at the Department of Education office at 10th and Quincy in Topeka.

The briefing by the Kansas Center for Safe and Prepared Schools, or KC-SPS, comes on the heels of a shooting rampage at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., that left 27 people dead, including 20 first-grade students.

Established in 2009, KC-SPS is a collaboration among several state agencies and is housed in the Adjutant General's Department. It includes the Department of Education, the Division of Emergency Management, Kansas Homeland Security, the Kansas Highway Patrol, the Attorney General's Office, the Department of Health and Environment and the governor's office. Other participants include the Kansas National Education Association and United School Administrators of Kansas.

It's designed to help schools with training and resources to improve safety, according to a memo distributed to the board.

The state board will receive the update following the swearing-in of newly elected members. The board will also elect a new chairman and other officers to serve for the next two years.

In other business, the board will:

• Recognize Olathe Superintendent Marlin Berry as the 2012-13 Kansas Superintendent of the Year; Buhler High School principal Mike Berblinger as the High School Principal of the Year; Lyons Middle School principal Kevin Logan as the Middle School Principal of the Year; and Rod Garman, principal of North Fairview Elementary in the Seaman School District in Shawnee County as the Elementary Principal of the Year.

• Act on a recommendation from the Quality Performance Accreditation Council to formally remove "Adequate Yearly Progress" from the state's accreditation standards and replace it with "Annual Measurable Objectives," the new standard being used to measure compliance with the federal waiver from No Child Left Behind.

• Receive a draft of proposed new history, government and social studies standards.

• Receive an update on the Next Generation Science Standards.

• Review a Legislative Post Audit report on the costs of implementing the federal waiver and the Common Core State Standards in reading and math.

The state board doesn't allow or disallow security guards in schools. That is a local decision. The State Department of Education keeps statistics on the number of people employed in school districts in various job classifications, including security guards.

As a general rule, weapons are not allowed on school property, but there is a statute that gives superintendents authority to make exceptions. That's where they get authority to hire armed security guards.